Wellingtonians made the most of beautiful Labour Day weather - while it lasted.

The capital continued a trend of starting Labour Day with sunshine but getting cooler as a southerly change whipped through.

Bright sunshine, blue skies and a temperature of 16 degrees Celsius made for a promising start.

Chilton Saint James School pupils Sarah Spicer and Lucy Fowles, both 18, and Lane Edgecombe and Rose Lovell, both 10, were among those taking to the waterfront to make the most of the warm weather.

Miss Spicer said they had an action-packed day planned.

"It's a gorgeous day and, since it's a long weekend, we thought we'd make a day of it and just try everything. So we've just been on the paddle boats, next we're going on the crocodile bikes, and then we'll go around to the beach."

She had heard the weather was set to dip in the afternoon and was determined to enjoy the sun. "We don't get many beautiful days like this, so we have to make the most of it."

Conditions did deteriorate as a southerly brought showers and strong winds. The temperature fell from 16C to 12C between 1pm and 1.20pm at Wellington Airport.

MetService forecaster Allister Gorman said the southerly arrived later than forecast, and was "not as bad as expected".

"Wellington hasn't done too badly with the weekend. We have probably dodged a bit of a bullet."

In South Canterbury yesterday, about 75mm of snow fell in both Tekapo and Cricklewood, thanks to a cold front coming from the Southern Ocean.